The HumanHunter
by Seed245445
Summary: A girl wakes up in an abandoned lab with no idea where, who, or what, she is. Will two groups of survivors be able to help her find out, or will they be too late as she succumbs to the monster within her. And what happens when the monster begins to surface and exert its own influence.
1. The Awakening

**Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, or any of the characters in them. They all belong to Valve and their respective owners.**

**I only own my OC**

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All she had known for her entire life was the sound of machinery running and voices as if they were heard from far away, even though they were standing right next to her. The cause of this was the clear green fluid that held her suspended within the large glass tube that had been her whole world for as far back as she could remember. But one day the voices stopped, replaced with screams, and then silence broken only by the hum of the machinery. But soon even that sound started to go silent. The machines that had long since supplied her with her air soon begin to fail. It is this lack of oxygen that brings her to full consciousness.

No matter how hard I tried I could not draw any more air from the thing in my mouth. I opened my eyes only to be met with darkness. My lungs were beginning to burn, hungering for the air they were so cruelly denied. I tore the device from my mouth and started to beat against the sides of my prison, but the tempered glass held. I pushed as hard as I could and wished for it to break, for I was quickly running out of strength because not only was I fighting to get out, I was also fighting to keep control of something within me. No words could explain what it was except for rage. Something told me that whatever it was I was fighting it was bad, not evil, but bad. But without a supply of air my mind began to shut down, my eyes drifted in and out of focus, my muscles began to tire. So, in a final desperate attempt to escape, I succumbed to the power within me. Suddenly the world around me changed. Everything became clear, I felt a new strength build inside my body, and with a final push the glass that had imprisoned me for so long shattered. I fell to the floor on my hands and knees, coughing, gulping the air as pieces of glass rained around me. The fluid that had surrounded me flooded over the floor.

Still feeding off the animalistic rage that coursed through me, I leaned back on my knees, the long tendrils of my wet hair falling back to reveal a young beautiful face with deep set eyes that were a bright crimson red, and let lose a bloodcurdling scream. A scream that contained not only all the rage and hatred I was feeling, but also my joy of finally being free. It was a scream that could be heard echoing throughout the halls long after I had stopped. Exhausted from my efforts I collapsed on the floor where I sat, to spent to even move the glass out of the way.

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Authors Note: Hello my readers, Seed245445 here. (I know thats a realy bad pen name,just go with it)

**This is my first EVER fanfic of any sort, so I understand if its not that good. Please Rate and Review. Comments, Criticism, or just General Reviews are all welcome. **

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Sorry for the short chapter. I just needed something to lay the ground work and set the scene for the rest of the story. I will try to make the other chapters longer.

**I'll try and make updates regular, but since I am finishing up my Senior year in High school I cant make any promises. **


	2. Discoveries

**Hello I'm back with chapter 2.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, or any of the characters in them. They all belong to Valve and their respective owners.**

**I only own my OC**

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I don't know how long it was until I awoke. It could have been minuets, hours, or even days. All I knew was tired and cold. The cold was due not only to me being wet, cause apparently that fluid doesn't evaporate, but being wet and having nothing on. I knew that if I didn't dry off and get covered up I would most likely freeze to death. However, in order to do that I had to get out of this room, and to get out of this room I had to be able to see. I remembered that when I broke out of the tube I could see everything clearly, as if the room was still brightly illuminated. It had something to do with that power I still felt, I knew it. I didn't want to use it again because I was afraid I would lose control of what ever it was. My decision was made, however, when I was hit with a full body shiver that lasted for severed seconds. Cautiously I reached for it, afraid of what might happen if I lost control. Surprisingly it was not fighting as strong as before. Embracing it I felt the feeling of rage, but it was more subdued, easier to control.

I opened my eyes and saw that my earlier assumption was correct. Everything was clearly visible. Even the small shards of glass that were stuck to my body, the fluid acting like some kind of glue. Carefully I sat up making sure to avoid the larger pieces. Once I was in a somewhat comfortable sitting position I gently brushed the smaller pieces off my arms. No sooner had I finished when my body was racked with another full length shiver. Once my body had stopped convulsing I decided that it was time to get out of this room. Using the metal base of the tube as a support, I carefully stood up. When I was standing I took a tentative step, wobbling on my unsteady legs. After several minuets I was able to walk without the danger of falling over, although this almost happened when I was hit with yet another set of shivers, these ones being even stronger than the last two. I knew I was running out of time. I walked over to the only door and saw that not only was it unlocked, it was also slightly ajar. Reaching out, I gently pushed it open ad peered out into the hall. Not having a clue as to which way to go I randomly chose to go down the left side, stumbling along still unsteady on my legs. After checking what felt like a hundred doors and rooms, I came across what looked like some kind of locker room.

The floor was tiled with four long benches in the middle. The wall with the doorway in it had just a bunch of hooks where you could hand coats and jackets. Both the far and right walls were covered with lockers, and the left wall lead to several curtained off areas that looked like showers. I checked in the lockers hoping to find something that I could use. At the bottom of the seventh or eighth locker I found a black backpack. When I opened it I sighed in relief, there was a full set of cloths inside. Walking over to the towel rack I could see there was only one towel left on it, and judging by the creases from where it had been folded, it had been sitting there for quite some time. I stepped in to the nearest shower stall to quickly rinse off the fluid that was drawing away all the heat my body could produce. The shower was a quick one for two reasons. First, without any power to heat it the water would be ice cold. Second, there would only be enough pressure in the pipes for a very short shower. I was proven right when the water that came out of the shower head began to lose strength almost immediately, and was absolutely freezing. I dried off with the only towel I was able to find and began to get dressed in the clothing I had found in the backpack.

First on was the typical female undergarments, covered up by a plain dark green t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. After some more searching in the lockers I managed to find a pair of socks and grey tennis shoes. As I was leaving the locker room I noticed a grey pull over hoodie hanging on a hook by the door. Figuring it would be better safe than sorry, I grabbed it. As I turned to walk out the door I saw something that made me stop dead in my tracks. There was a mirror hanging on the back of the door, and I saw myself for the first time. I had a sturdy build and probably weighed around one-sixty, and appeared to be very well toned. The muscles in my arms were not bulging, but were still large enough to be faintly outlined by the sleeves of my t-shirt. My long dark brown hair fell in long straight strands to just past my shoulders. I dug around in the backpack and found a rubber band I could use to pull my hair back. When I next looked in the mirror I froze. My eyes were red, a bright crimson red, and they were glowing. I went back to one of the lockers I had previously checked and grabbed the pair of sun glasses that were sitting on the top shelf. I don't know why but something told me that red was not a normal eye color. When I put the sun glasses on I was glad to see that they covered up the glow perfectly. When I left the room I decided to go right and continue down the same hallway as before. Maybe now I could find something that could tell me where I was, or more importantly who I was.

After a few more locked doors and empty rooms, a door opened to what appeared to be an office. The desk and floor were covered in papers, and looked as if there had been some kind of struggle. Sitting on the desk was a small grey tape recorder with a tape sitting next to it. Written on the tape was "**Subject 593**" in bold black lettering. Remembering that the numbers 593 were written in the metal base of the tank I had broken out of, I sat down in the chair, put the tape in the recorder, and hit play. The voice that came out was that of a young man.

"… _have decided to call subject 593 Sarah. Though I wish to, I can not yet say that the experiment has been a success. The injection of the green flue virus in to a healthy pregnant adult female has yielded results even we did not imagine. While the mother became infected and was neutralized, the offspring however is much different. We have placed the subject in a control tank where we can monitor her vitals, and further study her._

_July 18__th__, 2005 _

_If Sarah were human she would be fourteen years old by now. We have performed scans to measure her brain activity and have come across something astounding. We have measured two separate sets of brain waves. One set, which appears to be the more dominant of the two, is more like that of a normal human brain. The second set of waves however are far more erratic and aggressive. It appears that if she were to ever awake from her partial suspended animation and become fully conscious, she might have a dual personality._

_November 29__th__, 2006 _

_She is learning. It appears that while the part of her mind that holds her consciousness is kept dormant, the rest of her mind proceeds to develop at an unprecedented rate. We think she is learning by listening to our conversations. I have started leaving recorders playing in her room at night when we leave. This is a side experiment of mine to see if she can be "taught". I'm only playing tapes on basic language skills, reading, spelling, grammar, and such. If she can absorb these lessons then who knows what all she is capable of. I have decided that when she reaches maturity, which should be around eighteen years of age, to suggest that we should wake her up and see just what she can do._

_April 8__th__, 2009 _

_It has been five days since the virus escaped one of our sister labs, and began to infect the civilian population. The strength and speed at which the virus is spreading is frightening. We are already beginning to see mutations arise in those that have become infected. These "Special Infected" are proving to be far more dangerous than the more basic "Common Infected". one special infected, called a hunter, is particularly lethal. The hunter attacks it's prey by leaping off a tall structure and pinning it to the ground before viscously attacking its chest or abdominal cavity. We tested a sample of Sarah's blood and found that the virus she carries does indeed contain the strain for the Hunter mutation. Perhaps that is the source of the second set of brain waves we discovered almost four years ago. Could they be those of a hunter, hidden deep within the dark recesses of her mind? Only time will tell._

_April 10__th__, 2009 _

_Its been a week since the virus escaped. We have been ordered to evacuate our facility immediately due to the increasing number of infected and special infected in the area. It's a shame we were not able to finish our research on Sarah. I have tried to convince my superiors that we need to continue studying her, on the basis that she may have military applications. But they still refused, saying that the risks outweigh the benefits. It's a shame we will never be able to know what she was truly capable of."_

When the tape stopped running with an audible click, I was too stunned to even notice. Apparently I was some kind of military freak experiment. Half-human and half-Hunter, what ever the hell that is. I decided that I needed more information on whatever these so called "Infected" creatures are. So I began to search the rest of the desk for anything that could give me a clue. When the top of the desk yielded nothing that I couldn't understand I started to look through the drawers. In a large drawer on the left hand side of the desk I found a small grey box that looked promising. Written on the box was "**593 and her kind**". I opened it and saw 9 more little tapes just like the one that had been sitting next to the player, with a tenth empty slot in the back. Written on each the tapes was one word; **Common**, **Boomer**, **Charger**, **Hunter**, **Jockey**, **Smoker**, **Spitter**, **Tank**, and **Witch**. I sat back down in the chair and put each tape in the recorder one at a time to see what they had to say. Any hope I had soon turned to frustration and anger as I slumped back into the chair, emitting a feral growl in annoyance. All I got from the tapes was a brief description of what the monster looked like, and a few sentences that told me what it did. After putting all the tapes back in the box and throwing them and the recorder into my back pack I left the office and started back down the hallway. When I rounded the corner I stopped. About twenty feet away was a person leaning against a wall, facing away from me.

"Hey", I shouted, glad to see that I wasn't alone in this building.

The person, or thing I should say, turned around. I gasped, involuntarily taking a step backward into the wall. Its mouth and the front of its shirt were covered in blood. We both stood there staring at each other for only a second before it screamed and started to run towards me. I turned to run back down the hallway I had come from and saw another one of those things appear at the far end, busting its way through one of the locked doors I had tried earlier. I had just enough time to say s**t before the first one got to me.

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**Huff, Puff, Huff, Puff**

**Finnaly its done. You guys now have chapter 2. **

**Please Rate and Review cause I just LOVE to hear what you guys have to say, but please no flamers.**

**This is Seed245445 saying "Goodbye for now"**


	3. First Encounter With Infected

**Greetings my readers. Soooooooooooooooo sorry about the long wait, but between finals, graduating high school, moving back home to Tennessee from North Dakota, settling in, my computer going on the fritz and having to have the hard drive completely wiped, and general writers block I just haven't been able to work on it. But here it is FINALY chapter three is here.**

**Same usual disclaimer applies I do not own Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, or any of the characters in them. They all belong to Valve and their respective owners. Blah Blah Blah**

**I only own my OC and the plot line.**

**Now on to the story.**

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I felt its rotting hand latch onto my forearm in an inescapable death grip. I don't know if it was my human instincts, the hunter part of my brain, or maybe it was a part of both that flooded me with an almost animalistic fury and sense of self preservation. I grabbed its throat with my free hand and smashed its head into the wall. So hard it left an inch deep dent in the wall, along with a trail of blood as its now lifeless body crumpled beneath it. Turning I saw the other one was still about fifteen feet away. It never made it past ten. I crouched down, feeling my muscles in my legs tense, ready to release and send me toward what was soon to be my prey. In one fluid motion I leapt, flying through the air, and landed on the monsters chest. The force behind my momentum drove it to the floor where I pinned its arms with my knees, and began to claw into it. My hands turned claws tore into the soft rotting flesh of its chest while I resisted the urge to bite it as well. Its foul odor was already assaulting my senses, I did not want its tainted blood attacking another. After just a few seconds the thing below me stopped moving. Its head ceased to try and take a bite out of my arm and hit the floor with a dull thud. After a few moments of mental struggle I managed to regain complete control of my body. I stood and leaned against the wall, staring at the two monstrosities that I had just destroyed with my bare hands. Could they be some of the common infected that were mentioned in that folder I had found? A sudden blast of cool air snapped me back out of deep thought. It was coming from the room that the second common had broken out of. I walked back down the hallway and looked through what remained of the door.

Turns out it was just another office, or what was left of one. The desk had been pushed up against the door, which was what had stopped me from opening it the first time. Most of the outside facing wall was strewn across the floor leaving a gaping hole that was open to the world outside. I walked over to the hole thinking that I could escape through it, but that was not going to happen. The room was on the second floor of a three storied building. I looked up and saw that the edge of the roof was far out of my reach. I was about to turn back and look for a better way down when my hunter half pulled a "sneak attack" on me. Before I knew what was happening I was scaling the side of the building, finding hand and foot holds where no human would, a piece of chipped cement here, a sliver of a window sill there. After only a few seconds I was standing on the rooftop looking for a good vantage point from which I could view my surroundings. A communications tower caught my eye. Not only was it a good thirty feet high, but it also had a flat top where I could stand up and gain an extra few feet. In a few leaps and bounds I was at the top and was met with a breath taking view.

The lab was set on the side of a mountain about a mile and a half below the tree line. At the foot of the mountain was a decent sized city. I knew that if I was going to find any kind of help it was going to be in that city, not in the lab. While getting to the city was going to be the easy part, the hard part was going to be getting there alive and in one piece. From my vantage point I could tell that the land between me and the city was crawling with infected. If I was going to survive I needed some kind of weapon, but to find one I had to get off the roof and onto ground level. My plan was to climb down from the tower and find a way back inside the lab from the roof. My hunter self however had a different and more direct approach. Before I knew what was happening I was soaring through the air, over the edge of the building, towards the ground over seventy feet below. I knew that if the fall didn't kill me it was certainly going to break something. I tried to brace myself for impact while trying to find a way to land and cause the least amount of damage, but Hunter, like so many times before, had another plan. I hit the ground feet first and fell into a crouch causing the most of the shock of the impact to travel up my compressed body and be released into the air. My momentum was taken care of with an instantaneous forward roll. Another mental battle ensued with me fighting for control of my once again hijacked body.

After I was again back in the driver's seat, I stood up and took a look around me. The scene was one of complete and total destruction. To my left was a rather large sized stump, its ragged and splintered edge evidence that the substantially large tree it had once supported had quite literally been ripped off. The trunk of said tree could be seen sticking out of a wall almost forty feet away. There were also several vehicles scattered about. Some were sitting on their side, and others were upside down all together. After searching a few that were not on fire I managed to find a tactical assault knife, complete with belt sheath, from a body I had found that was shredded beyond all recognition. So equipped I turned my back on the lab that had been "home" all my life, and started to make my way down the mountain to the city nestled at its base.

According to my best guess it took me almost five hours to reach the city. I would have made it there in a fraction of the time if it had not been for all of the infected, both common and special alike. And the Witch. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it was; it matched everything that was mentioned in the folder. Long snow white hair, sits in one location rocking back and forth, and the crying. The first time I heard it a shiver went up my spine. How could something like that make a sound that was so … human? I saw her when I rounded a tree and there she was, sitting in the middle of the path not ten feet in front of me. Thankfully she was facing the other way with her back to me. Slowly, making sure not to make any noise what so ever, I started to back away planning on finding another way down the mountain.

That train of thought was derailed when I stepped on that damn twig. The crack sounded like an explosion in the total silence. I froze, hoping that whatever luck I had so far was still with me. It wasn't. The witch's head snapped up and slowly turned to face me. "Ah hell," was all I could say before I turned around and started to run back up the same path I had just been following; The Witch was hot on my heels, her seven-inch blood stained claws held out and she was screaming like a banshee. She was starting to catch up to me when I spotted a large tree off to my right. I figured it would be safer up above than down here on the ground with Bloody Mary. So I turned and leapt up, grabbing onto one of the lower branches that was around twenty feet off the ground, and started to climb. I guess I was about forty feet up when I looked back down and almost fell out of the tree in shock. The b***h was climbing up the tree right behind me, her talons digging into the trunk like hooks! "Oh, s**t!" I cried is surprise. Having nowhere else to go I took off running down one of the branches. When the branch started to bend I leapt, grabbing onto an overhanging branch, and swung to a branch on the next tree over. I turned to see the witch, her infected mind unable to comprehend what I had just done and unable to duplicate it, continue to rundown the branch until it grew to thin and weak to support her weight.

With a loud snap the twigs gave way and sent the witch plummeting down to the ground. When she hit she sprang right back up and started to climb the tree I was currently in. "Oh COME _ON_," I cried in frustration, "Give me a f*****g break!" I turned and started to leap from tree to tree via the branches. After crossing a few trees like this I noticed that the witch was becoming more and more frustrated. This gave me an idea that could possibly get me out of this encounter alive. I leapt to a branch and waited for the witch to start climbing. When she was almost to my limb I moved to about three trees away. The witch would rundown the limb, fall to the ground, scream, and start to climb my new tree. I was hoping that she would get frustrated enough to just give up and leave. This method was working fine until I hit that forked branch. It wasn't till I was in the air that I saw the split in the branches, the gap yawning wide open like a mouth ready to trap my foot. And trap my foot it did.

I tried to land in a way so that my foot would straddle the gap, but that plan, like every other damn plan I've had today, didn't work. My foot slipped clean through the opening, but my forward momentum kept me going forward over the edge of the limb. I felt a searing pain as my ankle was bent in a direction it was never meant to go. After the world stopped spinning I found myself hanging upside down, by my ankle, forty feet in the air, with a crazed witch still trying to kill me. I watched as she fell to the ground, knowing that I had only seconds before she got to me. Looking up I saw that the two branches that held me were only three or four inches in diameter each. I pulled the knife out of its sheath and clamped down on the blade with my teeth to free up both my hands. With a grunt that was partially effort and mostly pain, I doubled up on myself and grabbed one of the limbs with both my hands. Once I was sure that I had a firm grip with my left hand, I let go with my right and, grabbing the handle of the knife, began to hack away at the base of one of the limbs that my ankle was stuck between. Four strokes in I looked up and almost dropped my knife, the witch was already up the trunk and was at the base of the branch. I redoubled my efforts but it was too late.

Before I could make my fifth stroke the witch covered the remaining distance between us. I watched, almost as if in slow motion, as she raised her claws to deliver what was surely going to be a killing stroke. The blow, however, never came. As she began her downward stroke I heard a loud bang and watched as her head disappeared in a mist of blood and bits of skull. Her body slumped and fell off the limb to land on the ground below. Somewhere below me I heard a low gritty voice exclaim, "Boom, head shot!". I looked down and saw a man with his rifle still aimed in my direction. I could almost read what he was planning as if it was written bold black letters across his forehead. "No, No, No! Wait I can-".

**!BANG!**

The bullet hit the limb only an inch or two from my foot. The impact shattered most of the remaining portion of the limb and, with a loud snap, it gave way and sent me plummeting to the ground. I fell the forty feet and landed flat on my back. I really should consider myself lucky that is how I landed, because somewhere in my fall the back of my right ankle hit a limb and caused me to start spinning. The impact forced all the air out of my lungs, and as I lay there heaving and trying to get some air back I opened my eyes and found myself looking up the barrel of the mystery man's hunting rifle. So, confronted with this situation, I said the only thing I could think of at the time.

"Um, Hi."

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**Well there you go chapter 3.**

**Now on to the usual pleading and begging. Please rate and review. No flamers please. All comments are read and sometimes even answered. If its good you might even get a shout out at the start in the next chapter.**

**It might take a little while for the next chapter to get here cause now I have to start writing in conversations between characters, and I was never very good at writing dialog in English class. *shudders in fear***

**Until then this is Seed245445 signing off.**


	4. First Encounter With Humans

**Here is your next chapter people so enjoy.**

**The usual disclaimer still applies. I DO NOT OWN L4D, L4D2, VALVE, OR ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN MY OC AND THE PLOT.**

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The tension between us was so thick it could almost be felt. The silence was broken by the soft click of another round being loaded into the chamber of his gun, and his single question. "Are you infected?"

Slightly offended by his question and the circumstances in which it had been asked I fired back with, "Now I'm not speaking from experience of anything but after saving someone's life wouldn't a proper question be, are you ok? Or maybe something along the lines of, what's your name." to which he replied with shoving his rifle even closer to my face. The tip of the barrel was now so close that, if I had been following it instead of his face, I would have had to cross my eyes just to keep it in focus.

"I'm the one with the gun, so I make the rules. Now answer my question, ARE! YOU! INFECTED!"

"Well for the record my name is Sarah and y… no I'm not infected." I don't know why but something was telling me that if I did not let anybody find out about the truth about me, I would live a lot longer.

His harsh face softened as he slung his rifle across his back. I began to ask him if he had seen where my knife landed, but before I was even three words into my question a sudden pain in my upper left arm answered it for me. The combination of adrenalin and the stress of the last few minutes had left me totally unaware of the fact that my knife was now firmly lodged in the muscle there.

"Ow son of a b***h. this day just keeps getting better and better." I reached over with my right hand to pull the knife out, but his hand caught my wrist and stopped me.

"Whoa there I wouldn't pull that out just yet. We don't know how bad the damage is but since you haven't bled out yet I can safely say it missed the artery. Let's at least get you into a sitting position before we try to fix it."

As he helped me sit up I couldn't help but joke, "what are you a doctor."

To which he replied, "Nah, before all h**l broke loose I was an accountant. But when the zombies started to attack it was either survive or die, and when your trying to survive you get a little banged up along the way." when I was in a more or less comfortable sitting position he reached over his shoulder, grabbed a small red bag off his back, unzipped it, and started to examine its contents.

"Crap, I'm going to have to restock this next chance I get. All I got is half a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a roll of medical tape. I'm going to have to improvise a pad to stop the bleeding." he then reached up and tore off one of the sleeves of his t-shirt and proceeded to fold it a few times. He then took the bottle and dumped its contents onto the newly created pad. "Here your gonna want this," he said as he reached into the bag and tossed me a small roll of wood that may have been part of a handle to some thing once upon a time. I could clearly see numerous teeth marks on it, some going much deeper than others.

"And what exactly am I going to be doing with this," I asked, already having a general idea.

"Well when I pull that knife out and slap this on it," he said holding up the now alcohol soaked pad, "your gonna want to scream cause its gonna hurt, and a scream may invite some unwelcome guests. Now are you ready to do this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said clamping down on the bite stick now held firmly between my teeth. I had though moving into a sitting position was painful but I was proven to be sorely mistaken. When he pulled the knife out I let out a sound that was halfway between a scream and a grunt, but that changed into a full blown scream when the alcohol kicked in. To say that my arm felt like it was on fire would not even come close. After several seconds that felt like several years I released the breath I didn't know I had been holding. I let go of the bite stick and took a look at its newest, and deepest, set of marks.

When my new friend finished wrapping the tape around the pad and my arm he took a look at the stick and let out a low short whistle in astonishment. "Either this wood is getting old and soft, or that hurt a lot worse that it looked.

I smiled at his little joke and hoped that he would never realize how close he had come to dieing just then. While the original bite and grunt had been because of the pain, the depth of the bite and the scream were because the other me had wanted to rip his head off for hurting me.

"Sorry about the whole gun in your face thing earlier. Nowadays if you find another human you want to make sure they're going to stay that way right," he said with an apologetic smile.

"Yeah," I answered, "by the way you still haven't told me your name yet."

"Oh of course, my bad. Names Joseph but you can call me Joe. Now if you don't mind me asking Sarah, what on earth are you doing up here in these zombie infested woods with nothing but a knife for a weapon."

"Let's just say that I've been a little further up the mountain for the past few years and I was just trying to get to the city at the base."

"Oh you mean Millstone, that's where I'm from. I was heading back when I heard the witches screams. I followed them to see what had set her off and that's when I saw you. At first I almost mistook you for a hunter cause of the way you were leaping around on those branches, and I was about to leave when I saw you get stuck. When you grabbed your knife and started to hack away at those branches I realized that you weren't a hunter after all but in fact a human. By the way I would be very careful when introducing your self to other people for the first time. All you need is some duct tape and you would look EXACTLY like a hunter."

"Really," I said, "I guess I'll have to remember that. So what were you doing all the way up here in the first place?"

"Well to make a long story short I was looking for some food. I was hoping to fins a deer or a rabbit, h**l I would have settled for a squirrel, but the dam infected has scared everything off. All the food in the city has either been eaten of spoiled, and if I couldn't find anything up here I'm gonna strike out and see if I can find some sort of safe zone."

"Hmm that sounds like a good idea to me. Mind if I join you, two sets of senses are better than one."

He seemed to think it over for a few seconds before he answered, "Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Let's head back to the city so I can get my stuff, and so we can find you a more appropriate weapon."

He gathered up his gear and we set out down the mountain. I couldn't explain it but something about this guy didn't seem right. He kept looking at me like he was sizing me up, measuring out my proportions, and the silence between us just severed to make it creeper. I was about to ask him to stop when he broke the silence first.

"So Sarah do you have any family."

"No, at least not that I know of. I've been asleep for a long time, and when I woke up I was alone. What about you Joe, you got anybody you want to stick around for."

"No not any more. My girlfriend was one of the first to be lost and by the time I got to my parents they were already dead."

I was about to express my condolences when we stepped past the last of the trees and we were met with a full view of the city.

"And there she is. Allow me to be the first to welcome you Sarah to Millstone," he said with a slight chuckle and a flourish of his hands, "our fine city has numerous lodging options with your pick of numerous safe houses scattered all through out the city. Our entertainment district extends all over the city with nonstop heart pounding action as you fight for your life against the zombie horde. There now that the tour is over lest get to my safe house and rest for the night. We'll set out tomorrow and see what we can find."

"Ok that sounds like a good idea. I just have one question, what is a safe house." the look he gave me was the classic "you've got to be kidding me" look. "Like I said I've been asleep for a while so let's just assume that I have no idea what's going on."

"Well a safe house, or safe room, is a barricaded room or building which enables Survivors like us to rest, heal, and resupply ourselves. Safe houses are easy to identify because of their big, red, heavily armored metal doors. Some doors are solid and have only a peephole while others are locked with a crash-bar and have a large barred window providing a wide field of view and fire. And speaking of safe houses mine is just around the corner."

While we had been talking we had entered the city and began to make out way through the seemingly endless maze of streets and alleyways. When we rounded the corner I could see the red door that Joe had said marked a safe house. The safe house was at the end of a street that, not unlike the other streets we had passed and been through, was full of empty cars. As we walk past them I notice that one of them had a flashing red light inside and was periodically emitting a low beeping sound. I was about to ask Joe what it was when he beat me to it.

"Don't touch that car. Its alarm is still set and if it goes off any zed head within a three block radius is going to hear it and come running for lunch."

Before I could respond a man stepped out of one of the alleys about twenty feet ahead of us and called out a greeting to Joe. I could not tell what the original color of his clothes or hair were underneath the layer of grime that covered him from head to toe, as well as the axe he had strapped to his back and both of the crow bars he held in each hand. I could hear the change of attitude in Joe's voice as he called back; it was more relaxed and laid back now.

"Mike what are you doing out here."

When Mike answered his voice sent chills down my spine. It sounded greasy and wrong. "Well Joe I was going to kill you if you hadn't found any food but it looks like you did and it's a toy to boot."

I was bout to ask Joe what this Mike guy was talking about when suddenly Joe had my arms pinned behind my back with one hand and had cut off my cry of alarm with his other.

"Great job Mike, I wanted to get her into the safe house first, but no you just had to go and run your big mouth."

"I don't care Joe. I finished off the rest of that thigh the day you left and haven't been able to find anything to eat since. It's been three days and I'm starving so you can just shove it.

"What ever, lets just get her out of the open before we start."

I had no idea what these two were planning but I dint want to find out. I began to struggle and kick trying to get Joe to let go of me, but all it did was make him tighten his already iron like grip.

"Quit your struggling. It didn't work for the others and it won't work for you." His revelation made me freeze in horror. "That's right pretty; you're not the first to fall into our little trap. You see a few weeks ago mike and I discovered a new source of food that we liked even more than what we had been eating at the time. When I told you I had nobody left to live for it was only part of the truth. Yes my parents were killed and eaten by the undead and yes my girlfriend was one of the first lost, but she wasn't eaten by zombies. She was a tough bitch and a little dry too. Also you have to realize that mike and I are men that have certain need s that have to be met. Needs that the current selection of women can't fulfill, but you on the other hand are clean and untainted by the green flu."

When I realized what it was that they wanted to do to me I flew into a full blind panic and, in an attempt to make him let go of me, I bit into Joe's hand as hard as I could. When my teeth broke the skin and the moment his blood touched my tongue my hunter broke free, and for the first time I didn't try to fight it. I "let go" and gave the hunter full control of my body. It was a decision that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

From the moment I let go all I could do was watch as my body seemed to move all on its own. I could hear Joe's screams and see the blood as my claws and teeth tore into his hand and arm, reducing them to nothing more than a bloody mangled mess of flesh and bone. In shock Joe released me and with my new found freedom I went after the first thing I saw, Mike. Before he could recover from the shock of seeing his partner attacked by what was supposed to be dinner, I had leapt and pinned him to the ground in much the same manner I had attacked the common back in the lab but with a few differences this time.

I had not managed to pin his arms so he was able to mount a rather pitiful defense, and this time I was not afraid to use my teeth. I could feel his warm blood covering my lips and neck as I continued to bite any piece of flesh that came close to my mouth, and rend any part of his exposed body my hands touched.

A sudden pressure on my left arm, right where my bandage was, caused me to whirl around and see none other than Joe. He had apparently recovered from the shock of his own attack and the subsequent loss of his left hand and fore arm, and had tried to exploit a weakness in me by grabbing at what he had thought was a fresh injury. As I turned and pinned him to the ground his hand tore away the bandage reveling smooth unmarked skin. Not even a scar remained to show that earlier that same day I had a large bloody gash in my arm.

For a second our eyes locked, mine filled with the predatory gaze of a natural born killer, his with the fear of someone who knows they are about to die and are looking into the very eyes of their killer. With his final words he asked in a voice full of terror, "What are you?"

In response I reached down and whispered, my lips brushing ever so slightly against his ear, "I'm…..something else." I then clamped my jaws around his neck, and in a swift and savage manner tore out his throat. It took only a few seconds for Joe to bleed out. His struggles becoming more and more feeble until they finally stopped, his face forever locked in a silent scream.

I had no time to savor my first real kill, however, when a bullet whizzed past my head close enough for me to feel the wind it created as it flew past my cheek. I turned to see Mike holding the hunting rifle that Joe had dropped when he grabbed my arm. The look of hate on his face turned to one of pure terror as the bullet hit the car behind me, and set its alarm off. When I heard the scream of the horde I decided it was time for me to leave. As I climbed the side of the nearest building I could hear Mike shouting obscenities at me as he, weakened from severe blood loss, was unable to escape the oncoming horde. When I reached the roof I perched on a corner and watched with a sort of grim satisfaction as Mike and Joe disappeared beneath a swarm of dozens if not hundreds of the grasping hands and tearing teeth of countless common infected.

I let loose another scream as loud as I possibly could claiming this city as mine and daring anyone, be they human or infected, to challenge me for it.

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**There you have it chapter number 4. **

**I just moved into my college dorm room yesterday so for the next few days I wont be able to do any writing, but after I get settled into a rhythm I should be able to make my updates a little more regular. Also iv decided to start writing a fan fic for Lord of the Rings so my writing time will be divided between this fic and that one.**

**Now comes the part where I beg you for reviews and ratings so yeah please R&R.**

**Until next time this is Seed245445 signing off.**


	5. Survivors

**Here is your new chapter 5 enjoy. Explanation for the delay is in the Authors Note at the end.**

**The usual disclaimer still applies. I DO NOT OWN L4D, L4D2, VALVE, OR ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN MY OC AND THE PLOT.**

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It's been 4 weeks since my run-in with Mike and Joe. For the first week or so I was able to keep busy with looking for a safe house of my own, and not once did I even consider staying in their safe house, not even for a single night. Turns out, however, that finding a safe place to stay was the least of my worries. During my fight with Mike and Joe I had given my hunter half full control of my mind and body, but what I didn't realize was how strong that half was. It took me almost 4 days before I was able to suppress her again. I knew that if I didn't figure out how to control her one of two things was going to happen. Either she was going to completely take over one of these days, or we were both going to end up dead.

At first I tried shut her out completely but that proved to be both extremely difficult and dangerous. Not only did it take most of my concentration to keep her down, but it also dulled my senses and my reaction time by great deal. A zombie would be almost on top of me before I would realize it was even there. After a few close calls that were a little too close for comfort I decided that she and I were far too integrated for one to exist without the other. So instead of blocking her I begin to learn how to work with her.

It took a few days for us to work out who would be in charge and when, but once we did we truly began to survive. While out searching for food or supplies I would be in control but I would borrow her heightened senses such as her sense of hearing and smell. If I would have to focus on one thing in particular, such as searching a room or building, we would share control. I would retain control of my arms, legs, and sight but she would take over my other senses and my reflexes. While searching our flight or fight response would be on a hair-trigger. If we needed to flee she would take control of my body but I would still control our mind and guide her where to go. This arrangement also helped us to get around the city fairy well. However if we were forced into a close quarters confrontation with either a zombie or special infected, with no possible means of escape, I would give her full control to increase our odds of survival. The only bit of control that I would keep would be to tell her when it was time to stop attacking and start running.

Surprisingly sleeping turned out to be the easiest part workout. Before we found our safe house we were stuck sleeping out in the open which meant we could never drop our guard. Once we found a safe spot for the night I would work out the best escape route, have something to eat, then I would settle down and allow my half of our shared bring to sleep through the night. At the first sign of sunlight I would wake up and let her to sleep through the morning while I scouted around.

Once we found a safe house that we liked we were able to settle down and start work out a life for ourselves in this new world. We begin to spend more time searching for food and other supplies such as ammo and other such necessities. One thing I was always searching for was sunglasses because I found out that glowing red eyes act like a beacon to any zombie that happens to see it. With all the moving around I do most pairs of sunglasses only last a few days before I either lose them or they break.

It was while I was out searching a supermarket in the eastern half of the city for some food when an ear piercing shriek cut through the air. I was out the door and halfway up the side of the building in an instant, but when I reach the roof I realized it wasn't the predatory scream of a zombie that had found its next meal. It was an out of control freight train charging forward at full speed straight at the pile up of other trains in the freight yard across the river. It wasn't the first train to come through and it certainly wasn't going to be the last, but as I was about to turn and leave something out of the corner of my eye I caught my attention. In shocked disbelief I watched as four figures jumped from the doomed train and land in the river just a second before it collided with the pile up and explode.

I was so shocked to see what could only be more survivors that I didn't even bother to try and find cover as debris from the explosion a half mile away began to fall around me. It took a small piece of shrapnel slicing open my cheek to jar me back out of my stupor. My hand flew up to my cheek to assess the damage but I already knew it would be completely gone in a few minutes time, such are the perks of being a mutant hybrid with the accelerated healing of the special infected.

I wanted to turn and run away from the river where I can see the heads of the survivors breaking the surface as their need for air became too great. With my encounter with Mike and Joe being the only other interaction I have ever had with other people, it's pretty easy to see why I would want to avoid any other confrontations. I don't know why but for some reason I started to make my way to the river's edge instead of away from it. If I stayed up on the rooftops I would be able to follow them from behind and stay out of sight while I decided whether I could risk alerting them to my presence. I got to the last roof just as the survivors reached the edge of the fortified wall that kept the river from eroding away the dirt underneath the street that ran right next to it. I briefly wondered how they were going to climb out since the wall extended at least three feet up from the water's edge. There were no ladders or large pieces of debris that they could climb out with, and the river's water had worn the face of the wall smooth so hand and foot holds were likely few and very far between.

I was looking around for something that might help them get out when a grunt and a splash drew my attention back to them. After a few failed attempts I finally saw a pair of hands emerge over the edge of the wall and get a good grip. When the owner of the hands had pulled himself up and over the edge of the wall I gasped and took an involuntary step back. He was a large man with thick arms that were covered in tattoos. He was wearing a white shirt and a black vest that looked like it had been through a lot even before the world went to h***.

After taking a moment to catch his breath the giant of a man reached down to help his comrades climb up the wall. First was a man with a green coat and once he was on his feet he reached for his back pocket and slipped on a hat with a strange symbol on it. He was old, but looked rather healthy. Next was a bald man with a white long sleeved shirt and a red tie, but what surprised me most was the fact that his skin was a much darker color than any other person I had seen. When the larger man reach down and helped up the last member of their group I was completely caught off guard, instead of another man I saw a woman. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail but it was still a mess from her jump in the water. She had a red jacket on with a white shirt underneath.

After he had helped all his companions climb out the large man tried to use a pole sticking out of the top of wall to help himself stand up, but the pole broke and sent him headfirst back into the water with a surprise yell. The older man turned around at the sound of the splash and look back over the edge, "Come on Francis, stop messing around. You know we don't have time for that."

"You know I didn't decide to jump back in because I liked it in here Bill. Now quit your complaining and help me up."

The older guy, who I assumed was Bill, let out a sigh and motioned for the guy with the darker skin to help him. Once they had gotten Francis back onto dry ground he shook himself off and exclaimed, "I HATE the water."

The woman just smiled and shook her head, "Sure you do Francis." She then turn to the old man with slight scowl on her face, "So what now Bill. Your grand plan of riding the train to the coast has literally gone up in flames, we have no idea how far inland that little switch the tracks sent us and we all lost our weapons during that lovely little dip in the river."

Any response he would have given to her little outburst was drowned out by a sound I had learned to fear since they day I broke out of the lab, the screaming cry of a hungry zombie that has found its next meal. Before the first cry had faded it was joined by dozens of others as the horde round the corner a block away and spotted the four survivors. Without another word between them all four survivors took off running down the muddy strip of land and blacktop that separated the solid line of buildings on their left, and the river and its retaining wall on their right. Whether by unspoken consent or just force of habit they fell in line with Bill in the front leading the group. Keeping to the rooftops I followed the survivors to see if they could survive the horde without any weapons or outside assistance.

When it became apparent they would not be able to outrun the horde I watched as Bill turned down a side street and begin to weave their way around the buildings. At first it seemed to be working as the gap between the survivors and zombies started to grow, but then I realize which street Bill had picked. Out of all the streets and alleyways that he could have chosen he picks the only one that leads to an unavoidable dead end. Any branches were either blocked off or ended up looping back around to connect with the main route. The survivors were heading into a deadly trap.

With each turn and much needed break to catch their breath the horde behind them got closer and closer. By the time they reach the dead-end the horde had reached the mouth of the alley and sealed them in. The only other way out was an old rusted fire escape at the far end but its ladder was pulled up too high for even the tallest of them to reach. With the horde only seconds away from reaching the survivors I didn't have any time to think or even consider my options. I jumped to the top of the fire escape, unhooked the pipe bomb from my belt and tossed it into the heart of the swarm that was now at least 50 strong. The distraction bought me enough time to climb down to the first landing on the escape and kick the ladder loose, even though it took me three kicks to free it from the rust and grime that had built up on it from countless years of disuse. By the time the end of the ladder hit the ground with a loud crash my distraction was nearing the end of its run and the infected begin to notice their surroundings again.

The survivors were so stunned by the sudden rescue from there seemingly imminent death that I had to scream at them to get moving. Immediately they begin to work their way up in the same order as I had seen them running in. Bill was in the lead position with the woman behind him, the darker skinned man in the third spot, and Francis bringing up the rear. Just as I was about to make my way back up the stairs I heard a low moaning growl that stopped me in my tracks. I turned just in time to see the Charger crash into the wall below us with its rock like super arm. The sudden impact shook the fire escape so much I was knocked off the first landing to the hard concrete below. Before I could get my feet under me the charger grabbed me in its massive hand and began to slam me into the ground with bone jarring force. No matter how hard I tried I could not get myself lose as the beast continued to smash me into the hard ground.

Just as I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be beaten to death by this mutation I heard the repetitive blasts of an assault rifle being fired. After what sounded like an entire clip had been fired the Charger collapsed into a lifeless mound with a bloody mangled lump where its head used to be. After taking a moment to make sure nothing was broken or internally damaged I climbed the ladder and made my way to the top of the building.

Just as I made it over the edge of the roof there was an ear splitting screech as the joints holding the top of the fire escape tore away from the building and sent the whole pile of metal crashing into the hoard below. As I reached down to rest my hands on my knees and catch my breath I heard the sound of a gun being cocked. I looked up and thought to myself, "Wow this looks awfully familiar", as I once again find myself staring down the business end of a gun, except this time it was my own assault rifle in the hands of Bill, a man whose life I just saved while almost losing my own in the process.

Feeling a little pissed I couldn't help it state, with more than a little edge to my voice, "Wow if this is how you say "thank you" to someone who just saved your a**, remind me to never get on your bad side. Save someone who saved your life just so you can threaten to kill them yourself."

Apparently I wasn't the only one who was upset with the current situation as the woman begin to berate Bill, "What the h*** are you doing. If it wasn't for her we would be dead by now."

"Zoey you know full well what happened to us the last time we blindly trusted someone who saved us," he answered angrily. "We ended up as military lab rats because we are carriers."

"Well I guess that's another thing we have in common," I said pulling Bill's attention back to me. "We're both survivors, we're both carriers, we both have no love for the military, and we both know the clip in that gun is completely empty. So why don't you put it down and help the rest of us find a way off this roof so we can get back to my safe house where you and I can get back to trying to kill each other in peace."

After another moment or two of tense silence Bill relaxed as slung the rifle over his shoulder. Having finally caught my breath I walked over to where I had tossed my backpack and checked to make sure nothing had broken when I dropped it to lighten my load. Satisfied that everything was okay I slung it over my shoulder and walked to the far side of the roof where the others had gathered. As I approached I could both see and, thanks to my hunter half, hear as Bill and Zoey had a very heated but quite argument over whether or not I should be asked to join their group.

I decided to put an end to that train of thought and said, "Okay here's how it's going to go. I'm going to take you guys back to my safe house and let you get at least one decent night's sleep. In the morning I'll give you guys a few weapons and supplies and take you to the edge of the city. After that you guys are on your own."

For a second it looked like Zoey wanted to argue but seemed to realize it would be pointless and let it go. One by one the others agreed and I couldn't help but sigh, it was going to be a long night.

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**Authors Note**

**The explanation for the long delays between my chapters is on my profile page, but this one has more cause for delay than others. I had this chapter finished over 2 months ago and had sent it off to one of my friends who proofreads for me. But once a few weeks had passed with no response from her I decided to search the beta pages of this site for a beta reader. While I was waiting for a response from one of the betas I asked another friend of mine contacted me and agreed to proof my chapters until I could get an official beta.**

**Since I want to avoid another delay like this last one from now on I will post chapters differently. As soon as I finish a chapter I will post it here, but I do warn readers it will have numerous grammar mistakes. Once I get it fixed and checked I will swap it for the bad copy.**

**While I do not enjoy the idea of posting a chapter as rife with grammatical mistakes as mine it has come to my attention that some of the readers of my story seem to get upset if I do not post in a timely manner. One reviewer, who does not have an account on this site and so remains anonymous, has left a few upsetting reviews. **

**To that reader, and you know who you are, all I have to say is that I do not know if the review you left on 6/21/13 ****was meant to be in jest but it was still rather upsetting to me. While it is good to know that someone is really excited in my story, when things like that are said in a review it takes away from the complement.**


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